One concern regarding social media that I hear from doctors, nurses, and administrators is the perceived lack of gravitas and sincerity such platforms can provide. My guest today is Doctor Ed Mariano, professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He is also the Associate Chief of Staff for Inpatient Surgical Services at Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. We’ll talk about Twitter and the scientific method, live tweeting at conferences and how best to get accurate, transparent information to patients. I love healthcare providers that tweet, especially the ones that make the effort to encourage their colleagues to jump into social media.